For an comprehensive and individualized running consult with Sukie, contact (772) 342-1020

Address the underlying biomechanical issue to perform at your best!

It‘s easy to see why running has become more popular in the past decade. Some benefits include potential weight loss, improved cardiovascular health, increased muscle mass, increased bone density, and an improved emotional state. As the amount of runners have increased in recent years, so has the occurrence of running related injuries. Running injury severe enough to reduce or stop training or cause a runner to seek medical care is 37% – 50% of runners each year.

Injury patterns are fairly constant over the past 25 years, despite better education, training and shoe design. There are over 20 types of running injuries including plantar faciitis, shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, runner’s knee, and iliotibial band syndrome. Most are caused by training errors and can be corrected. Of the most common running injury sites, 70% to 80% occur from the knee and below. The knee is the most common site of injury accounting for approximately 25% to 33% of running-related problems.

There are multiple potential risk factors for getting a running injury. Risk factors can be separated into intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors include flexibility,prior injury, misalignment, and poor form. Extrinsic factors include training errors ( I.e. velocity, frequency, duration), improper running surface, and improper running shoes. Two of the most important risk factors of a running injury include: number of miles each week, and previous running injury.

Most running injuries are musculoskeletal repetitive overuse injuries. Running is a complex and coordinated process that involves the entire body. Running causes many stresses in the body, because of the increased weight bearing on joint surfaces, kinetic chain influences, and altered biomechanics compared to walking. When the body is biomechanically inefficient, running causes repetitive stress on tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints. Weight-bearing stresses, compression, shear, torsion, overuse of muscles and tendons lead to an inflammatory response. Joint effusion and swelling cause pain, restriction of movement and decrease in function.

There isn’t a quick fix for a correcting a running injury. A simple injury can linger and then manifest into a more complex injury. Resting, passive modalities such as ice, and simple stretches are not enough to fully recover and return to a full training regiment. A comprehensive rehabilitative program must correct intrinsic/extrinsic factors, and most importantly, teach a runner how to know thyself.

Currently accepting new patients.

“There are no words to describe how thankful I am to have Sukie as my PT. I came in his clinic in a wheelchair and left on my own two feet.” – Carmen L.

Special Offers

Follow Us:

FREE ARTICLES

Sokunthea (Sukie) Nau, DPTSukie has been practicing physical therapy since 2007 with a special interest in the biomechanics of human performance. He earned his Bachelor of Health Science with a concentration in Rehabilitative Services, Minor in Sociology and Minor in Education from the University of Florida in 2004. He later finished his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Saint Augustine with a concentration in Orthopedics in 2007. Learn more.